Coming to St. Louis, not being that familiar with the Midwest, I wasn''t sure what quite to expect. I didn''t know if I was going to hear a bunch of country inspired rock or just a bunch of hillbillies with guitars. Man were my expectations wrong. I heard no redneck rock, nor did I endure any tight jean, cowboy hat wearing country wannabes. What I experienced was one of the best collections of unsigned groups I''ve seen anywhere in the world on one stage. Before the first band hit the stage at Pop''s , I knew I was in for something more than anticipated as the crowd flooded through the doors and began to fill every corner of the 1500 capacity room. 3JC started off the show and I couldn''t believe so many women were ready to strip down that early in the evening. By the time the band quit singing about how they like girls with lesbian tendencies, the stage was covered in bras and panties. These guys really enjoy playing their music and it''s contagious as the crowd seemed to enjoy it too. GRAIN OF SAND followed them up with some early Metallica inspired metal that they put their own stamp on. The guitars put together some interesting harmonies and the vocals are sang with real feeling and guts. TEAM TOMATO hit the stage about two hours into the night as the crowd was still getting warmed up. They lack a little enthusiasm on stage but they have really good original songs that are delivered with precision. The music is tight and the vocals are catchy. Next up in front of the packed house was STEREOTYPE which it seemed had the majority of the female audience on their side. A very good rock band, these guys put on a great show and kept the fans right down front very entertained. ELI-STONE took the stage a little later with a pure wall of sound. The only way to describe their sound is pure power. A powerful drummer, powerful guitars and powerful vocals that demand your attention. Its like hard rock about to graduate to a full blown metal sound with something its trying to prove. BARE KNUCKLE CONFLICT came out ready to take over the crowd by force. These guys had a energy level that was matched only by a few of the bands that night. They''ve got a great drummer, good bass, screaming guitars and a very confident front man. SPATIK finished off the night with a three-guitar attack that was a fitting end to a great show. The drums and bass were tight with the foundation and they had a good mix with the guitars. For a band with a heavy sound, the lyrics are very warm and the vocals are brought through with a clear smooth sound. Taking 7th place Saturday was SEMI-OK. These guys are a breath of fresh air coming on stage with no-frills and just playing straight ahead rock. These guys are what I would describe as just a fun party band. A great sound that just begs for a bunch of kegs, some loose women, and couple of hundred people, all singing along to their songs because everyone knows all the words. Coming in 6th place was SCORCHED ERTH, the heaviest band of the night. These guys are heavy metal with screaming vocals that still can entertain the softer rock fans. It''s not often that you find a band that plays this hard that holds things together this tight. They have great guitar licks and a monster of a drummer back there laying down the foundation. The 5th place band in St. Louis was BIG FAT EVERYTHING. Veterans of a couple of cover bands in town, this line up with original music is fairly new. These guys are a melting pot of styles all in their own. Its tough to figure out what they are going for but every song in itself is done well and these guys are very entertaining. The guys are all good musicians but the bass player won over the judges and took home the Best Bass Player Award. GROUPTHINK took 4th place and I''m sure won over a lot of new fans while on stage Saturday night. A band full of outstanding musicianship, they had one of the guitar players take home the 2nd Best Guitarist<